Winning big: Homeless players who beat the odds

No matter how well you're doing financially, a big lottery win is one of the most life-altering events that can happen to a person. But while a sudden infusion of cash can improve anyone's life, no one benefits more than people who are so destitute they've lost their homes.

While many players may fantasize about paying for beach vacations and luxury cars with their lottery prizes, homeless players must imagine what it's like to know where their next meal is coming from or dream about buying a warm coat for winter.

These are inspiring true stories of players who went from nothing to taking home big lotto fortunes.

Beachside break

A lottery player who chose to remain anonymous turned his entire life around when he decided to purchase a California Lottery $10 Triple Red 777 ticket at Sandy's Deli Liquor in San Luis Obispo.

The man lived on the streets of the Central California beach town for several years and was well-known and liked by local business owners. Wilson Samaan, the manager of Sandy's, said he even trusted the man well enough to let him watch the store while he restocked in the back.

After purchasing the instant win ticket, the man brought his ticket to Samaan and asked him to verify if he was a winner. Samaan said:

He came to the store, he scratched it, and is like, 'Oh, my god. Is that real? Wilson, can you come and take a look?' I'm like, 'Let me see,' so I grabbed the ticket out of his hand and went to the machine over there.

Samaan added that even after confirming the win, the man didn't understand how much the ticket was actually worth. Samaan explained:

He's like, 'Man, I'm not homeless anymore!' I'm like, 'Man, you hit the jackpot.' He’s like, '$100,000,' and I'm like, 'No, bro. That's $1 million. Congrats, brother.' So, we gave each other a high five.

The winner initially planned to mail his winning ticket in, but Samaan convinced him he should not let something this valuable out of his hands and drove him two hours to the closest state lottery office in Fresno.

Samaan told reporters that the man was determined not to waste his second chance. He plans to use the money to purchase a small home and a car, and save and invest the rest.

I love Lucia

In 2017, Lucia Forseth was struggling and homeless. Six years later, she was a multi-millionaire.

Forseth wasn't a frequent lottery player, but one fateful day in 2023, she found herself with some time to kill after bringing her car in for an oil change at a Walmart Supercenter in Pittsburgh, California.

While waiting for technicians to service her car, she decided on a whim to buy a 2023 instant-win ticket. She scratched it off outside the store, and her eyes went wide when she uncovered the $5 million instant win symbol. The lucky winner told the state lottery:

I only bought one ticket. I closed my eyes and picked that one, and it won! I first thought I'd won a free ticket, but I checked, and it said I won $5 million!

While she had pulled herself out of poverty by the time she won the ticket, Forseth said the win was particularly sweet considering the earlier state of her life.

Forseth commented to state lottery officials:

This year, I am getting married, getting my associate degree, and won $5 million. You never think you have a chance to win it. It is just random. Being homeless just six years ago, I never thought it would happen to someone like me.

Mile High Win

Sometimes in life, all we really need is a second chance.

In the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, children desperately search for a golden ticket that would give them access to the land of their wildest dreams. For Colorado resident Diego B., it was the instant-win game Wonka's Golden Ticket that allowed him to pursue his wildest dreams.

Diego struggled for years to put his life back together after a failed relationship and other troubles left him homeless and living in his car in his native Iowa. While hanging out on a Facebook group for car enthusiasts, he befriended a man named Cory and told him about the challenges he was experiencing.

Sympathetic to his situation, Cory told Diego that he could help him find a job if he moved to Colorado, where he lived. Diego took him up on his offer and moved to the Rockies, and with his friend's help, he turned his life around.

Diego became a frequent lottery player after finding steady work and a permanent home. For four years, he purchased tickets without securing a major prize, but he decided to test his luck with the Wonka scratch-off. While he didn't come up with a win, he mailed his ticket for a second chance drawing and took home the top prize of $250,000.

When the Colorado lottery surprised him at work with the ticket, Diego broke down in tears with happiness, thinking how it could turn his life around.

He stated to lottery officials:

It changes my life and everyone around me's life. This is the most amazing thing I've ever had in my life. It's life-altering. I don't even have words. This is more money than I've ever seen in my life. I want to do so many good things. It all doesn't go to me truthfully.

Diego says he plans to use the money to spoil his son with Christmas presents and eventually build a house on land he owns in Alamosa, Colorado.

Home is where the heart is

When we think of Aspen, Colorado, we imagine perfect white powder snow, multi-million dollar ski chalets, and the lifestyles of the rich and famous. However, it's easy to fall through the cracks in a town where the average home costs $3.4 million.

Aspen resident Michael Engfors had a successful carpentry business that installed shelves, wood trim, and doors in those mansions for years. But when the 2008 Great Recession hit, his customers no longer spent thousands of dollars adorning their luxury homes, and his business fell into bankruptcy.

Depressed and despondent over the loss of his business, Engfors became an alcoholic and was arrested for petty crimes, including a 2012 failure to appear warrant. As his life fell apart, he eventually found himself living in an Aspen homeless shelter and would occasionally pick up extra work in construction.

Feeling that his luck had to turn around eventually, Engfors bought a $10 Eternal Splendor instant win ticket. He uncovered the numbers, and his hands shook when he revealed the symbol, awarding him the $500,000 top prize. After paying taxes, Engfor collected $355,000.

However, Engfors could not drive to the state lottery offices without a car to verify his ticket and collect his winnings. Dr. Vince Savage, the director of the homeless shelter where Engfors lived, took him to collect his money and then drove him directly to the bank to deposit his check into an account with less than one dollar.

Engfors' story has an interesting twist, though. One benefit of staying at the shelter was that it helped him to maintain his sobriety, and when he moved out, he felt isolated and in danger of relapsing.

So, despite his win, Engfors still spends some nights at the Aspen homeless shelter, where he spent several years before hitting it big. Dr. Vince Savage, the center's director, says that Engfors remains in active addiction recovery, and the services and friendships he found while staying at the center have helped him maintain his sobriety.

Dr. Savage stated to Aspen Public Radio:

I have told Michael we are not going to throw him out just because he was unfortunate enough to win the lotto...He is trying to stay sober; he is trying to maintain some social contact. The idea of sitting alone in a hotel room with a bottle is not a good combination.

A giving spirit

When most people fantasize about winning the lottery, they imagine all of the ways they could spend the money on themselves. However, one homeless man decided that, despite his poverty, giving would be better than receiving.

Bloomington, Indiana, resident Dennis Mahurian was homeless for over thirty years when he hit it big on a $3 instant win ticket.

Pastor Greg Davis was in line behind Mahurian, and he described the scene when he learned he had won at the gas station where he purchased the ticket:

Dennis was standing right in front of me when he was turning in his ticket. I was standing behind him, and he asked, 'Well, did I win anything?' The lady who was working there—her eyes were as big as saucers—said, 'You won $50,000.' Dennis looked dumbfounded. He didn't say anything, and then he asked, 'Are you sure?' She said, 'Yes, I am sure.'

While $50,000 wouldn't be enough to buy Mahurin a new home, it could definitely help him improve his life. But instead of spending his windfall on himself, Manchurian told reporters that he planned to give most of his money away to his homeless friends.

He added that he only planned to keep enough money to buy a new tent, have some dental work, and visit his son. He told reporters, 'I'm living in a tent, happy as can be in my nature.'

Sandra Rankin, who works at the gas station where Mahurin bought his ticket, says that giving away his money is in character for a man she's known for years.

He is a great guy, has an awesome sense of humor. I care deeply for him, and he is a very decent gentleman. He comes into my store three to four times a day. It sounds like he spends his cash on the lottery quite a bit... perhaps he's waiting to hit the 'big one'.